Tadanobu Asano
is a Japanese actor, director, and composer. Because his father was an actor's agent, he began acting early on in his life, making his debut in the Japanese television program Kinpachi-Sensei in 1988. In 1995 he met J-pop idol Chara while filming Picnic and eventually got married. The two of them are still together and have two children - son Himi and daughter Sumile. Aside from his film career he has also directed commercials for his wife and fronts the band Mach 1.67 alongside director Sogo Ishii. Asano's understated approach to acting may be more suited to western audiences than to the Japanese, who generally gravitate towards the extreme exertions of actors like Riki Takeuchi and Sonny Chiba in action-oriented film roles. While Asano has recently gained more popularity in the west through his involvement in several widely-distributed films such as Ichi the Killer and Last Life in the Universe, it wouldn't be an overstatement to say he may be more famous in Japan for his distinctive looks, his work in television commercials, and simply for being Chara's husband. Profile * Name: * Birth date: November 27, 1973 * Birthplace: Yokohama, Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan * Height: 5' 9" (179cm) * Hobbies: Driving, swimming, illustration, karate, motorcycles, playing the guitar, horseback riding Filmography As actor * 1990 Swimming Upstream ... Ushi * 1991 Waiting for the Flood ... Sadahito Iwata * 1992 The Rocking Horsemen ... Seiichi Shirai * 1993 Fried Dragon Fish ... Natsuro * 1994 Quiet Days of Firemen * 1995 Yonshimai Monogatari ... Akira Higuchi * 1995 Maborosi ... Ikuo * 1996 wkw/tk/1996@7'55"hk.net ... Man * 1996 Picnic ... Tsumuji * 1996 Helpless ... Kenji * 1996 Acri ... Hisoka * 1996 Swallowtail ... Customer in club * 1996 [Focus] ... Kanemura * 1997 Labyrinth of Dreams ... Tatsuo Niitaka * 1997 Tokyo Biyori * 1998 Love & Pop ... Captain XX * 1998 Screwed ... Tsube * 1998 Shark Skin Man and Peach Hip Girl ... Kuroo Samehada * 1999 Away with Words (1999) ... Asano * 1999 Gemini ... Revenger with Sword * 1999 Hakuchi: The Innocent ... Isawa * 1999 One Step on a Mine, It's All Over]] ... Taizo Ichinose * 1999 Taboo ... Samurai Hyozo Tashiro * 2000 Gojoe ... Shanao * 2000 Kaza-hana ... Sawaki * 2000 Party 7 ... Okita Souji * 2001 Electric Dragon 80000V ... Dragon Eye Morrison * 2001 Distance ... Sakata * 2001 Ichi the Killer ... Kakihara * 2002 Woman of Water ... Yusaku * 2003 Bright Future ... Mamoru Arita * 2003 My Grandpa * 2003 Last Life in the Universe ... Kenji * 2003 Zatoichi ... Hattori Genosuke * 2003 Dead End Run * 2003 Café Lumière ... Hajime Takeuchi * 2004 Tori * 2004 The Taste of Tea ... Ayano Haruno, uncle * 2004 Vital ... Hiroshi Takagi * 2004 The Face of Jizo ... Kinoshita * 2004 Survive Style 5+ ... Aman * 2005 The Buried Forest ... San-chan * 2005 My God, My God, Why Hast Thou Forsaken Me? ... Mizui * 2005 Takeshis' * 2005 Portrait of the Wind ... Tamio Murase * 2005 Funky Forest: The First Contact * 2005 Rampo Noir ... Private Detective Kogoro Akechi, A man, Masaki (3 different roles) * 2005 Tokyo Zombie ... Fujio * 2006 Invisible Waves ... Kyoji * 2006 Hana Yori mo Naho ... Jubei Kanazawa * 2007 Mongol ... Temudjin * 2007 Sad Vacation * 2007 Kabei: Our Mother * 2008 Coin Locker Babies * 2009 Mt. Tsurugidake As director * 2004 Tori As composer * 2003 1-Ichi * 2004 Tori External Links * * * Official Website * Wikipedia entry for Tadanobu Asano * Tadanobu Asano Interview at Midnight Eye Category:1973 Births Category:Actor Category:Director Category:Composer Category:Musician